By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

It has taken me three weeks to wrap my head around Interstellar. I attended the screening at the newly-refurbished Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science IMAX Theater (MODS) and I was overwhelmed with the visualization. Interstellar is a science fiction epic that is enhanced by the five-storey IMAX screen and clear concise aural elements.

There has been mainstream criticism about the audio problems plaguing screenings of Interstellar. Many of these problems are actually caused at the local level by projectionists who do not know to listen to movies in their own movie theaters. That was not the case

at MODS. Interstellar simulates the immediate silence one hears when travelling into outer space, like IMAX documentaries such as Space Station 3-D.

Besides directing the last Batman/Dark Knight trilogy, Christopher Nolan has created motion pictures with big themes and a tricky narrative structure: Memento, Insomnia and Inception. Interstellar is actually a simple story about family; but the narrative becomes convoluted when including Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to move the action along.

Farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is a widower with two teenaged children: a teenaged boy who prefers farm life and Murph, a preteen who is interested in deeper themes about science. Like her old man, Murph has a bit of a rebellious streak.

Cooper is contacted by Professor Brand (Michael Caine), who believes that the world is ending. Brand believes that there are inhabitable planets that can sustain earth’s population. With tears and regret, Cooper leaves planet earth in an effort to save the world.

Like Inception, Interstellar takes a scientific theory and attempts to simplify it. If one does not pay attention to the dialogue scenes between Mc- Conaughey, Caine and Anne Hathaway, one will be totally lost in space. Understanding Einstein’s theories about time travel will determine one’s enjoyment tolerance for Interstellar.

Happy Thanksgiving!